21 January 2022
Dear Parent/Carer,
We are delighted to let you know, that from 28th January 2022 students will be completing their maths homework with Sparx Maths. Sparx is an exciting online platform that offers every student a personalised maths homework. We will no longer use Hegarty maths for homework.
We know that you want to support your child’s maths progress, so we’ve put together this letter to explain how Sparx works and why it is important to make sure that maths homework is 100% completed.
How does Sparx homework work?
Sparx personalises each child’s homework, creating a weekly set of questions tailored to their level of understanding and learning pace. The questions are designed to be achievable whilst offering the stretch that learners need to make progress.
Homework will be set every Friday and due in the following Friday, starting Friday 28th January.
Each week, topics are set by your child’s maths teacher and will make up the majority of the homework questions. Questions from previous topics will also be included in the homework so that students can keep practicing the skills they have learned.
How can I help my child with their homework?
We appreciate that you will of course want to support your child with their home learning, but please try not to help them with a question until they’ve had a go first! It is really important that they complete their homework independently, and that questions are marked as correct. They can watch the support video if they need to. This way, Sparx can make sure your child continues to see homework that’s at the right level for them.
Why does my child need to achieve 100% compulsory homework completion?
Sparx Homework is deliberately designed to help students really get to grips with and understand the concepts and skills they are learning by ensuring they cover the essential building blocks needed to make progress in maths. Sparx’ research (sparx.co.uk/evidence) has shown that an average of 60 minutes a week of this type of personalised maths home learning leads to clear progress. It is therefore advised that students do their homework as early as possible, so they have the time to have a go themselves and seek help from their teacher if needed. Homework is not marked as complete until all of the compulsory questions have been answered correctly, so starting early is key to finishing before hand-in time.
You can keep track of your child’s homework completion in the weekly email you will receive from Sparx.
Homework Club
At Werneth, we run a homework club after school on a Tuesday and Thursday until 4pm. This homework club is located in the library where pupils can access the computers and laptops to complete their homework if they do not have a device to do so at home. The homework club is managed by our HLTA’s- Mr Karagiannis and Miss Wilson. Additional to this, we have laptops in the maths department for pupils to use at lunch time with their class teacher. You/your child will need to arrange this with their maths teacher so that they can give them a pass to get to their teacher during lunch and also so their teacher knows when to expect them.
We hope you agree that Sparx will play an exciting and important role in helping your child’s understanding, success and confidence in maths to grow.
We will be sending out a video link and ‘how to’ leaflet to students that we recommend you look at before 28th January 2022. These links are also at the bottom of this letter.
You can ignore any emails from Sparx before 28th January as we will be spending this week setting it up so that students have a chance to log in and have a go before we expect homework to be complete
If you have any questions, please contact maths.enquiries@wernethschool.com, stating your child’s full name and their math’s teacher.
Kind regards
Mr. P Brighton, Head of Mathematics
Miss E Bennett, Second in Mathematics
Video Link: https://f.hubspotusercontent30.net/hubfs/5530880/KB%20Resources%20Summer%202021/Parent%20video_v2.mp4
